Friday, August 4, 2023
Think of a stretchy tube. In one segment it’s made out of nylon, at another, it’s made out of cotton, and at another it’s rubber, and so on. All along this tube, the material changes. The tube represents the roles you play. In one segment you’re a young spouse in New Jersey, then in a another, a middle-aged, single person in Florida.
So who are you then, if your roles and physical body change so much? We’re really a puff of air moving through that tube. We’re an invisible presence, some kind of air that moves along the tube, animating the various roles.
What’s remarkable is that we’re identical, essentially. So what is that animating feature, the air moving through the tube? I think it’s God. Who is to say that God is not playing a human part called “you” in this unfolding drama called life? If God is playing the role of human, think of it the other way around – human playing God. That would mean that you were everywhere, all-knowing, and all powerful. Maybe for a while that might be kinda nifty, but the first thing you’d miss is a surprise. You’d miss the wonderment of the unknown, but if you were God – you could kiss that goodbye. So to keep the element of surprise, to keep life interesting and more playful, God is playing hide and seek with himself, disguised as “me” and “you.” Seen from the outside of the tube is human. Seen from within the tube is divine. It’s easy to see the outside of the tube and think that’s all there is, but how could that be real? It’s always changing. What’s inside of the tube is consistent, invisible, unchanging, eternal, and unknowable. Sounds a lot like God to me. But maybe that’s too much of a stretch.